By Maria Scott
Mortgage brokers handled 37.5% of new loans last year according to new analysis by the New Zealand Mortgage Brokers Association (NZMBA).
Megan Salt, chief executive of the NZMBA said the figures showed a clear and growing preference among borrowers for arranging loans through brokers. 'Consumers’ behaviour is changing. They are moving to brokers.'
The results of the survey are a milestone for the mortgage broking industry in New Zealand which is aiming to achieve a market share of 40 per cent, putting it on a par with the industry in Australia. For the first time, members of the NZMBA have made available statistics from their businesses to enable the association to look at the industry’s share of lending.
Working with David Tripe, director of banking studies at Massey University, the NZMBA calculated that brokers wrote $15 billion of loans in 2006 out of a total residential mortgage market of between $38 billion and $40 billion.
Salt said the association had calculated the broking industry’s share conservatively; it could be as high as 42%.
A survey by accountancy firm KPMG in 2003 indicated that brokers had 23% of the mortgage market in New Zealand at that time.
Salt said: 'Our aim was 40% but I never thought we would get there so quickly.'
The NZMBA has been campaigning to increase awareness among borrowers of the advisory services offered by brokers. Simultaneously it has been working to improve the standards of service, business practice and education among brokers.
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